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38h t-S B. s. ROBERTS. e68 been Breech Loading Fire Arm.

Patented May n, 1869.

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Patented May 11, 1869.

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Breech Loading Fire Arm.

Patented May 11, 1869.

UNITED STATES BENJAML S. ROBERTS, 0F UNITED STATES ARMY.

IMPRC VEMENT lN BREE CH-LOADENG FIRE-ARMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 90,024, dated May 11,1869.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN S. Romances, of the United States Army,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Breech-LoadingFire-Arms; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear,and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, making part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, Sheet1, is a section taken longitudinally through the center of the arm .inthe planeindicatcd byline w in Fig. 2, showing the several parts inposition for firing the arm. Fig. 2, Sheet 1, is a top view of the armwith the parts in the same positionas in Fig. 1. Fig. 3, Sheet 2, is asection taken longitudinally through the'ce'nter of the arm, showing theparts in position for inserting a cartridge.- Fig. 4, Sheet 3, is a Viewof one side of the arm with the stock removed. Fig. 5, Sheet 3, is aview of the self-retainin g pivot-pin or plug projected from Fig. 4.

. Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in theseveral figures.

- This invention relates to certain novel im-' provements on thebreech-loading fire-arm for.

which Letters-Patent were granted to me on the 11th day-of June, A. D.1867, wherein a vertically-swinging breech-block worhin g on a curvedrecOiLabutment is employed, in conjunction with a swivelingrecoil-plate, a cartridge-shell extractor, and a lever-catch forfastening the breech-plug in place ready for firing the piece;

My present object is to improve said tirearm, and to secure greatersimplicity, safety, and solidity by arranging the hammer, the trigger,andthe spring centrally in the plane of the axis of the barrel, andconstructing these parts in such manner that these three pieces alonecoustitutethe whole of the lock, aswi'll be hereinafter explained; also,by having the hammer pass centrally through a slot made through thebreechqilu g arm, and applying a catch to the rear end of said arm, sothat in the act of full-cocking the hammer the breech-plug will bebrought in position for firing, and held positively in this position;also, by applying the spring which operates upon the rear lever-catch tothe frame of the piece beneath the tang in such manner as to pressagainst the rounded nose of the said catch when the brceclrblock is inposition for 'firin g, thereby holding the catch positively in place,but allowing it to be readily released by raising the rear end of itslever, as will be hereinafter explained; also, by formin g a concaveseat or abutment in the frame at the rear termini of the side cheeks.containing the breech-plug, the breech-plug to correspond with such concave seat that thecenter of such curves shall be in the horizontal-planeof the axis of the barrel, and shall also be the axis about which thebreech-plug oscillates, there'by )reventing the force of recoil fromhaving any tendency to throw the breech-plug out of its place, butallowing the breech-plug to be readily removed from the piece bywithdrawing the pivot-pin, as will be hereinafter explained; also,'bythe use of a self-holding pin, about which the breech-plug oscillates,which is so constructed that it renders, unnecessary the use of ascrew-pin also, by adaptinga spring extracting device, which operates inharmony with the openin g movement of the breechplug to eject thecartridge-shells; to serve, also, as a means for raising the forward endof said plug, and holding a cartridge in its chamber after itsinsertion, and before the plug is brough home by the act of cooking, aswill be hereinafter explained; also, by constructing on that end acentrally-arranged cartridgeextractor, which operates directly upon the.rims or flanges of the cartridge-shells for extracting. these shells,so as to afford a firm support for said'rims, which will resist anytendency that there might be to burst these shells at these points bythe. force of the gases or by the extractionof theshells, as will behereinafter explained; also, by combining a centrally-arrangedfiring-pin with a swinging breech block and swiveling recoil-plate insuch manner that the latter will be held in place by said pin when thebreech-block is removed from the piece. all as will be hereinafterexplained.

To enable others skilled inthe art touuderstand my invention, I willdescribe its construction and operation.

In the accompanying drawings, A represents the woodenstock of the piece,which is suitably adapted for receiving and having firmly secured to itthe-frame B. A is a and so curving the rear end of swelled portion ofthis stock, which is located immediately below the shell ex'tractor G,and

'forward of the trigger=guard when the piece is brought up to theshoulder for firing.

B .is the frame, consisting of a re-enforceformed on its forward end,into which the rear end of the barrel is secured, by screwingorotherwise; two parallel checks, at a, between which the breech-plug G issupported laterally; a solid recoil-shield or abutment at the termini ofthe cheeks; two cheeks, P, between which the hammer and trigger areheld, and a tang, B.

1n the schedule annexed to my Letters Patout No. 65,607, I described aconvex abutment formed at the termination of the side cheeks of theframe, with a concave seat formed in the rear end of the swingingbreechpiece to receive said abutment. I now form a concave seat,b,in,the abutment, and a curved bearing b, of corresponding curve, on therear en of the breech-plug, and I connect the plug 0 to the frame B byapivot'key-pin, p, wh ose axis intersects tran sversely the lon gitudinalaxis of the barrel, and who'seaxis is the center from which the saidcurves are produced, and about which the breech -plug swings.

The pivot key-pin p is a short cylindricalpin, which passes transverselythrough one of the cheeks a, and partially through the breech-plug, andis confined in place partly by a tenon, r, fittinginto a groove orrecess made in thesaid cheek-piece, and partly by a springfinger, p,having a stud, p, on its free end, that springs'into a'depression madein the outer face of the check; This forms a self-retainin g pivot-pin,'which is better than a screw for the purpose intended. The pin or keyis inserted into its place while the spring-finger is held perpendicularto the axis of the piece;- then, by turning the pinone-quarter around,the tenon 1' will be received by its recess and the stud 12 will enterits depression. The breech-plug G is grooved out on top to form a guide.for the cartridges while inserting them into theirchamber when thisplug is in the position shown in' Fig. 3, and this plug has a rearextension, 0', formed on it,

which is slotted at S, and which has-pivoted todts rear end alever-catch, J J. "Theexten as to intersect transversely thelongitudinal axis of the barrel K, I accomplish two very importantobjects, to wit: the force of recoil will not have a tendency to throwthe breech plug either up or down, and by, raising the arm Gfar enoughafter thekey-pin 1;. is removed the breech-plugwi ll leave its place andmay be removed.

The key-pin p is used for keeping the breechplug in place while swingingthe plug 0, and it does not receive the shock of the discharge,

for the shock is resisted entirely by the rear concave abutment b.

l) is the firing-pin, which is constructed with a limited longitudinalplay. The'spring V will move this pin D back after it is struck by andrelieved from the hammer. Its reduced end 11 passes through a hole madethrough the rocking recoil-plate E, which will prevent this plate F rromcasually dropping out of place while removing this breech-plug from thepiece, and by a shoulder formed in the breech block and upon thefiring-pin'this pin is prevented frompenetratin g a cartridge-shell whenstruck by the hanimer.

The hole through the recoil-plate F, through which the firing-pinpasses, should be made oblong to allow this plate to receive afreerockin g movement while moving thebreech-block.

G is the cartridge-extractor, which is arranged in a recess made intothe rear end of the re-enforce, directly below the axis of thesam'e.This extractor G is pivoted at g, and its upper end is grooved at i, soas to form, when in the position shown inFig. 1, a continuity of thegroove for receiving the rim or flange of a cartridge-shell, and thusafford afirm support for the said flange at a point where it would beliable to give way by the force of the gases if such support were notprovided. The

rear edge of this extractor is made concave, so

as to allow the recoil-pl ate F to descend freely, and therear end, 9,of this extractor, which extends below. the pivot g, isreduced andextended back beneath the breech-plug, so as to form a spring, whichwill serve to throw upthe front end of the breech-plug after the insertion of a cartridge into its chamber far enough to prevent suchcartridge from drop ping out of placebefore the, breech-plug is broughthome bythe act of cooking the hammer.

Directly in rear of the solid concave-abutment b, and between thecheek-pieces P, is the hammer F, which is arranged so as to vibrateabout pivot e in thevertieal plane of the breechbloek C and barrel K.This 'hammer' vis 0on structed with anotched or toothed segment, E,below its pivot 6, against which teeth the forward tapered end't of thetrigger T will catch, for holding the latter at half-cock or fullcock.

I employ a simple bifurcated spring, H, for

acting upon both the hammer and the trigger.

. piece.

as shown in the drawings. This spring consists of two elastic arms, h h,terminating at their connected ends in a rounded portion,

, adapted to fit and be held in place by a concave seat, h formed in ablock, I.

The spring-arm h acts upwardly against the tail-piece c of the hammer,and the spring k acts downwardly upon .the rear arm of the trigger T, soasto press its rear portion against the segment portion E of the hammer.

It will be seen, by reference to Figs. 1 and 3, that by pinching thefree ends of the spring H together, and moving this spring forward outof its seat 11?, it can be detached from the A similar manipulation willrestore the spring to its proper .position again.

The block I, which is secured to the tang B, not only afi'ords a seatfor the rear end of the double spring H, but it also serves to hold aspring, j, in place, which acts upon catch J,

as shown in Fig. 1, to prevent this catch from casual detachment fromthe tang B, through which it hooks.

The catch J is constructed on the forward end of a curved lever, J, andpivoted at j to the rear end of the lever G, and serves to hold I thelatter down in place, as shown in Fig. 1,

I and secure it in place by means of the block I.

The upper portion or thumb-piece of the hammerE passes through an oblongslot, 8, madecentrally through the breechlever ex, tension 0, whichslot; is of such length, with reference to the movement of the hammer,

' that in the act of fulhcocking this hammer y will press against therear termination of the slot, and positively force the lever G down inplace, and cause the nose j of the lever-catch to hold this lever auditsbreech-plug in place for safely firing the piece. The piece cannot,therefore, be fired until the breech-plug is locked or held in place bythe lever-catch.

Having described myinvention, whatI claim as new, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. Arranging the hannner, the trigger, and

spring H centrally in the plane of the axis of the piece, in combinationwith a double mainspring, acting directly on both the cockand trigger,to operate substantially as described.

2. So arranging the hammer centrally in relation to the slot .9 of thebreech-plug lever O that the act of cooking the hammer'will positivelyadjust the breech-plug in position for firing, substantially asdescribed.

3. The lever-catch J J applied to the lever O, in combination with'a-spring, j, which is applied beneath the tang B of the frame B,substantially as described.

4. The concavity b at the rear of the cheeks a a, receivingthe rear endof a swinging breechplug, 0, which is pivoted between said cheeks, andwhich carries on its forward end a self-adjusting recoil-plate, F,substantially as described.

5. A swinging breech-plug, in combination with a recoileplate, F, on itsforward end, and

- a centrally-arranged firing-pin, substantially as described.

6. A centrally-arran ged extractor, G, in combination with a spring, g,formed on its opposite end, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

7. The cam key pin 1', about which the breechplug swings, when made witha springarm, 12, and stud p on the end thereof, in the manner and forthe purpose specified.

B. S. ROBERTS. \Vitnesses:

R. T. CAMPBELL, E. W. ANDERSON.

